Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Indian exporters have welcomed the US decision to postpone the tariff hikes on imports from July 9 to August 1, as this will allow more time for talks to sort out the trade issues. Director General of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) Ajay Sahai said that this deferment of the imposition of reciprocal tariffs reflects the US’s willingness to engage constructively with its trading partners.
“It provides an extended window for dialogue, which can help our negotiators to sort out remaining contentious issues,” he pointed out. Sahai further stated that the proposed tariffs, covering a dozen countries, may provide India with more comparative advantage if it finalises a BTA (bilateral trade agreement) with the US, at least on goods, by the end of this month.
United States’ Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent earlier said that Washington is close to reaching agreements on several trade deals as “a lot of proposals” have poured in from various countries at the last minute. His comments hint at several big trade deal announcements by the Donald Trump administration.
“So my mailbox was full last night with a lot of new offers, a lot of new proposals…It’s going to be a busy couple of days,” he told CNBC.
“President Trump’s going to be sending letters to some of our trading partners saying that, if you don’t move things along, then on August 1, you will boomerang back to your April 2 tariff level. So I think we’re going to see a lot of deals very quickly,” Bessent said, according to media reports.
